


Distance Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

by LunchLich



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Anxiety, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Insecurity, One Shot, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23979274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunchLich/pseuds/LunchLich
Summary: Vespa wanted to take whatever Buddy was anxious about and break it over her knee. She brought her hand to her cheek again and this time, Buddy didn't move to stop her.
Relationships: Buddy Aurinko/Vespa
Comments: 5
Kudos: 49





	Distance Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

**Author's Note:**

> yes hello this was just a short, quick little thing to try and get a grasp on these characters and get this idea out of my head
> 
> this takes place right after the lighthouse reunion!

For the first time in fifteen painfully endless years, they shared a bed. If Buddy's nails tracing mindless circles on her skin didn't feel so real, Vespa would think this was too good to be true. Too good to be tangible. But Buddy Aurinko - the real Buddy, not the one that had haunted her mind for years - was right in front of her. Flesh and blood, all beauty and charisma and confidence like she'd always had been. 

Everything was different. And yet, nothing had changed at all.

Both had more wrinkles. More freckles and scars littering their skin. Buddy kept her hair covering half of her face. When they were younger she couldn't stand so much as a strand hanging in her face. Appearances weren't the only things that had changed if the debtor's tag around Vespa's wrist and the shakiness of her hands was proof of anything. 

The feelings had stayed frozen in time. They'd been buried in the martian sand along with the hope of ever seeing one another again. Now that they'd dug it up all it needed was a dusting off. They were picking up right where they left off; madly in love.

"I missed this," Buddy whispered. Vespa watched her chest fall with her breathing, watched the cascade of fiery curls over her shoulder shift with the movement. 

"I missed you. You're gorgeous, y'know that, Bud?" She'd been thinking it since they met at the lighthouse earlier that night. Seeing her lit up like a star on a backdrop of faded reds and oranges of the setting sun made her fall in love all over again.

"Vespa." 

Hearing her voice say her name again made her heart so full it felt like she could combust right there on the spot. Cause of death, the breathtaking woman in front of her and how she smiled around the syllables of her name. She was as happy to say the name as Vespa was to hear it.

It was impossible to contain herself. She leaned in, her eyes fluttering shut as she brought her hand up to cup the cheek of her lover.

...Buddy's hand clasped over hers to stop her before their lips could meet or Vespa's hand could rest against her face. Vespa opened her eyes again and Buddy looked... Terrified.

They stayed frozen like that for far too long, never breaking eye contact as they both cycled through dozens of emotions. Surprise, shock, and fear in Bud's. Confusion, hurt, and shock in Vespa's. Buddy's hand stayed grasping here, shaking and she held onto her. 

"I- I'm sorry." Vespa finally managed to sputter out. Maybe she'd read everything wrong. Maybe those feelings needed more than a simple dusting off. Fifteen years would do that to a relationship and she was a fool to think otherwise.

Her gaze softened and the fear left her face. Tension started to leave Vespa's muscles as relief sank in. "No, darling, you're quite alright. It's just that..." Her words trailed into nothingness and Vespa awaited an explanation that never came. Seeing Buddy's confidence suddenly falter was jarring. She had her moments like anyone else, of course. Moments of self-doubt in planning periods, blips of insecurity here and there. Seeing it do a nose dive was completely unprecedented.

The green-haired woman shifted closer and propped herself up on her elbow. "I love you," Was all she could think to say.

"I love you too - dearly, might I add. I'm afraid a lot has changed since... That night, though."

Vespa was well aware. She was likely what had changed the most in that time, with drastic changes in lifestyle and the radiation poisoning rotting her brain. Was that what it was? Why Buddy had looked so scared? She'd seen glimpses of how the radiation had affected her, is that what had changed so much that she didn't even want Vespa to touch her? Did she think she was a monster?

"After all that, I- Vespa?"

She hadn't realized Buddy was talking. Too lost in her thoughts. 

"Come here..." Her arms were open. Maybe she didn't think she was a monster.

Vespa tucked herself in against Buddy's chest, strong arms wrapping her up in warmth and an overwhelming sense of security. This wasn't anything new, just... Different. She'd always had a predisposition to paranoia and anxiety and Buddy had always known how to settle her fears. Her hand slid down the back of her sports bra and down bare skin. She continued tracing those shapes from earlier with her painted nails. "I apologize for my reaction. I was startled, though I assure it wasn't because you tried to kiss me."

She hadn't tried to push Vespa away, she'd stopped her from touching her face. The left side of her face, beneath the curtain of curls that hadn't been pushed back once since their reunion. She propped herself on her arm again to look at her, Buddy's hand going to rest on her hip but never ceasing to draw those absent-minded shapes on her skin. It'd always been an act to calm Vespa, but maybe right now, she was trying to calm herself. She looked nervous.

Vespa wanted to take whatever Buddy was anxious about and break it over her knee. She brought her hand to her cheek again and this time, Buddy didn't move to stop her. Instead, she dug her nails into Vespa's hip just enough for her to feel it and looked her dead in the eyes. 

There was another thing that hadn't changed - that look of trust. It was the same look she'd gotten when heists got on the dangerous side of things. When they needed to act without planning first. Buddy was looking at her like she was counting on Vespa to make a decision in the blink of an eye. 

So she pushed Buddy's hair behind her ear and ghosted her thumb along the bumps and lines of the rotted skin of her cheek. She took all of her in. The flesh that had been affected by radiation, all sunken and shriveled around the shape of her cheekbone. The robotic eye that must have cost a fortune. Buddy blinked, and the prosthetic eye made a quiet whirring sound she hadn't noticed before. Is this all she'd been scared of? "Didn't think you'd forget so much about me, Bud. Even in fifteen years."

"What do you mean?"

"If you forgot that my love is unconditional. Some more scars aren't gonna do jack shit about that. It doesn't change how drop-dead gorgeous you are, either."

"Vespa- Oh, come here." Buddy's hand is on the back of her neck and pulling her down before she can do it herself. Vespa cups both of her cheeks as she kisses her and feels honored to be allowed to do so. Heat rose to her face with the kiss. Vespa was taking in all in as if were the last time she'd have it. As if this were another dream she chased knowing full well she'd wake up in an empty bed. She reassured herself that this was real, this wasn't a dream or hallucination. This was undeniably real.

The kiss was saccharine and even better than any they'd shared before. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, and Vespa Ilkay was starting to believe it.


End file.
